The Pentagon yesterday declared that the major combat phase of Operation Iraqi Freedom is over after U.S. Marines took control of Saddam’s Hussein’s last stronghold in his hometown Tikrit.

As more than 3,000 Marines entered the Butcher of Baghdad’s palace and Tikrit city center after the final big battle of the 27-day long war, the Pentagon announced that it was sending two aircraft carrier battle groups, along with submarines and B-2 stealth bombers, back to their bases.

The force in Iraq will make a transition from combat to security work and civil affairs.

“I would anticipate that the major combat operations are over because the major Iraqi fighting units on the ground cease to show coherence,” Maj. Gen. Stanley McChrystal said. But he warned that guerrilla fighting in the country could go on for weeks.

Tikrit, the last major bastion of Saddam’s evil domain, fell without anything close to the bloodbath that some had predicted, as thousands of Iraqi military and paramilitary fighters melted away.